Ball-bearing.



yv. SPARK S. BALL BEARING.

APPLIOATION H LED AUG. 26, 1911.

1,080,081 v Patented 1960.2, 1913.

, WILLIAM srAnKs, or JACKSON, MICHIGAN AssreNon To THE sPARKs-WITHINGTONCOMPANY, OF JACKSON, MICHIGAN, A (lORIPORATION OF MICHIGA BlhLL-BEARING.

weasel.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM Snares, or Jackson, inthe county of Jackson,in the State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements inBall-Bearings, of which the follo-wlng, taken in connection is a full,

-of manufacture capable of being used in connection with any cone andcup bearing Where the use of anti-friction balls may be necessary ordesirable.

'llhe primary objectis to produce a relatively' light, strong anddurable retainer from a single piece of sheet metal. which may be cut,stamped or pressed into the de-' sired form for retaining the balls witha minimum numberof operations and at the i sametime to enable the ballstorotate freely therein with a minimum amount of friction or contactarea with the retainer. In other Words I have sought to reduce thenumber of points or area of contact between the balls and retainer andat the same time to position the balls within the retainer in suchmanner as to constitute a support for said retainer independently of thecone or cups with which the ball bearing is associated.

I am aware that it is common to provide a sheet metal ball. retainerwith a continuous annular base having one edge provided with radiallydisposed arms terminating in lateral oflsets, the arms and theirotl'sets being disconnected'or spaced. apart for receiving the ballsbetween. them, but in such cases the balls rest in the transverselyconcaved base and therefore introduce a considerable amount of frictiontending to resist the free rotation of the balls, While in my retainer Ihave sought to obviate this excessive friction by seating the balls inelongated slots or openings in the body of the retainer leaving theretainer at the inner and outer sides oithe balls continuous so as to'bridge across the openings particularly at the outer side of the ballsand thereby firmly bind the per tions of the metal between the openingsto each other which enables me to use very much lighter sheet metal.than would be pos- Speeification 0t Letters Patent.

.' Patented Dec-l2,

Application filed August 26, 1911. Serial No. 6 55,206-

' sible if the port-ions of the metal between the openings at the oute'rsides of the balls were disconnected.

.In the drawings+Figures land 2 are op posite face views of my improvedball retainer with the balls therein, Fig. 3 is an edge view of thedevice shown in Figs. 1' and 2. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view ofthe same ball retainer shown as operatively mounted between the cone andcup bearings. .Fig. 5'is a plan of the cut sheet metal blank beforebending or pressing to the desired form for retaining the-balls.

The ball bearing forming the subject matter of this invention comprisesa sheet metal ball retainer 1 a'ndfa plurality of balls 2held thereinuniform'distances apart by suitable spacing members hereinafterdescribed.

The retainer 1- 1s made from a single plate 3 of sheet metal having acentral opening -1-- and a series of radially elongated ball openings 5spaced uniform. distances apart circumferentially and of less transversewidth than the-diameters of theballs -2, the marginal edge of said platebeing; provided with a corresponding number of substantiallysemi-circular re cesscs -'6 in radial alinement with their respectiveball openings 5 The opposite sides of each of the ball openings 5 arepreferably parallel leaving intervening radial webs --7 which taperinwardly. or rather flare outwardly.

The radial length of each of the bearings 5 is greater than the diameterof the ball which it is adapted to receive but is less than the distancebetween the inner edge of the retainer plate and base of the adjacentgroove or recess 6, leaving connecting webs 8 and 9 at the inner andouter ends of the openings for connecting the inner and outer ends ofthe Webs thereby making these portions of the retainer continuouscircumferentially;

The transverse width or diameters of the recesses G are substantiallyequal to the transverse widths of their corresponding openings 5 andtherefore are of less Widththan the diameter of the balls which they areadapted to receive so that When the marginal edges of the plate are bentover in a manner hereinafter described, the corners of the outer ends ofthe webs will serve to retain the balls in their respective openings andat the same time allow portions of the balls to protrude through therecesses.

lVhen the openings 5- and recesses 6- are cut in the metal blank asdescribed, the inner and outer marginal edges of said blank are pressedlaterally in the same direction or substantially parallel with the axisas shown more clearly in Figs. 3 and 4:, thereby forming what may betermed a hub flange 10 and a peripheral flange ll. The peripheral flange'11- is bent or folded over on a circularline substantially coincidentwith the Webs 9, while the hub flange -10- is bent in the same directionon a circular line between the ends of the ball openings 5, therebyleaving portions of said openings in the-hub. The intermediate portions12 of the retainer plate between the flanges -10 and 1lare preferablybent inwardly toward the hub at an acute angle with the peripheralflange l1'-, thereby forming an obtuse angle with the hub flange 10which projects axially some distance beyond the corresponding edge ofthe peripheral flange -11-. It is now clear that the ball openings 5-extend transversely through the intermediate portions 12 and hub portion10, thereby allowing the balls to protrude inwardly some distance beyondthe inner face of the intermediate portion 12 and to contact only withcentral points in the sides of the webs 7 at the inner side of thecenter of the balls.

The distance between the flanges 1 O- and 11 radially is less than thediameter of the balls and the axial length of the flange -11 is justsuflicient to allow the points or corners of the outer ends of the webs7 to contact with said balls at the opposite sides of their centers,thereby establishing substantially four contact points for each ball,two at the sides of each opening and two at the edges of each recess forretaining the balls in their respective openings against accidentaldisplacementand at the same time leaving the inner and outer portions ofthe balls free to contact with suitable bearings, as for example, a cone13 and cup l4, Fig. 4.

As previously intimated, the intermediate portion -12 of the retainer isdisposed at an angle to its axis while the space between the edges ofthe flanges 10 and 11 is directly opposite the deflected intermediateportion -12 so that the balls protrude inwardly beyond said intermediateportions 12- and outwardly beyond the edge of the peripheral flange 1land Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the the contact points of each ball are therefore disposed ina diametrical line through the ball at substantially right angles to theintermediate portion of the retainer. This provision for the projectionof the balls inwardly and outwardly beyond the flanges -10- andllrespectively leaves the retai'ner free from contact with either thecone -'13 or cup -14 thus permitting the retainer to be supportedentirely by the balls to serve the double purpose of holding the ballsuniform distances apart and also to reduce friction upon said balls to aminimum.

The operation of my invention will now be readily understood withreference to the foregoing description and the accompanying drawing andwhile I have shown and described the retainer as supported exclusivelyby the balls out of contact with either the cone 13 or cup -14,, it isevident that in some instances I may refer to fasten portions of theretainer to either the cone or cup and therefore I do not wish to limitmyself to the precise construction and arrangement shown and described.

What I claim is:

1. In a ball bearing, a, ball retainer comprising a plate having acentral opening and inner and outer concentric flanges projectingaxially different distances in the same direction from the main body,said main body being disposed at an angle to said axis and provided withball-openings of greater length but of less width than the diameters ofthe balls which they are adapted to receive, and balls in said openings,the outer flange having recesses in its edge also receiving portions ofvthe balls.

In a ball bearing, a ball retainer and balls therein, said retainercomprising a sheet metal plate having a central opening and inner andouter concentric flanges projecting in the same direction substantiallyparallel with the axis, the outer flange being somewhatshorter axiallythan the inner flange and spaced apart therefrom a distance less thanthe diameter of the balls and having its edge provided with recesses ofless-circumferential width than the diameter of the balls, the portionsof the retainer between said flanges being provided with radialball-openings of less circumferential width than the diameter of theballs and alined radially with the recesses In witness whereof I havehereunto set L 15 my hand on this fourth day of August 1911.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

